


Reliance

by DiamondsandPhoenixFire



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket (Anime 2019), Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Break the Haughty, Canon-Compliant, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Imported from FF.net, Pre-Canon, Sickfic, h/c
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:54:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25171939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiamondsandPhoenixFire/pseuds/DiamondsandPhoenixFire
Summary: High school fic for the Mabudachi trio. Started as h/c fluff with a side of character study but I want to explore the way Ayame feels he abandoned Yuki in future chapters. Revised and to be continued in 2020,originally posted to FF.net Nov 28, 2014
Relationships: Mabudachi Trio - Relationship, Three Musketeers - Relationship
Kudos: 10





	Reliance

**Author's Note:**

> It’s been years and, among other things, I’ve switched cities, career aspirations, and genders since I wrote these. I’m leaving the originals up so I can compare and see how far I’ve come - maybe it’ll be interesting for some of you as well! I do not intend to continue updating the FF.net versions. I’m mostly double posting these to FF.net as a courtesy notice for those who’ve faved and/or followed them - some very recently. 
> 
> See, you were vindicated in showing interest in that seven year old fic! As it turns out, the author is losing their goddamn mind in quarantine because they’re trying to apply to epidemiology grad programs/assistantships but the world is on fire and full of plague and a girl can only check the job board so many times a day, you know? Your interest motivated me to do something other than be anxious, so thank you.
> 
> I think I wrote the original after the episode where Shigure arranges a trip to the lake to distract Hatori from Kana's wedding and went AWW I WANT TO WRITE SOME CARING SHIGURE and forgot what fraction of his personality (85%) is pure, unadulterated bastard. Plus, they're ten years younger here and not nearly immature enough. It ended as mostly a character study of Aya because his dialogue is the funnest to write. But the concrit was spot on, Gure's not that caring and it would be more interesting from Hari's POV. No matter _how_ much fun Aya is to write.
> 
> They're older here than I was when I wrote this, but they still weren't immature enough. My adult self writes immaturity better than my teen self, somehow.
> 
> Marked as Gen for now. Will not stay Gen.

"You really should do something about that hair of yours. Eventually, you're going to get called in by the principal."

"Ah, But I already have!" Ayame replied, waving his hands grandiosely. "Once my presence was requested in his humble study, I sat down to spin him a tale of ancient royalty and divine traditions - one of my better ones, I must admit. I began by telling him that we Sohmas are of a noble royalty, dignified and ancient as the mountains themselves! And as I..."

His animated chattering spilled out into the lunchroom, enthralling those around him. Save for Hatori, who shook his head mutely before coughing into his elbow. The school was slipping into cold season and he, like multiple other students, was wearing a mask to avoid spreading germs.

"Do my antics make you sick, Hari? Or so you have been known to tell me! This story's even clean, you know, and -"

The other boy adjusted his mask and did not reply.

After a moment's pause, Ayame finished out his story, albeit with lessened volume and enthusiasm. The bell rang shortly after, and the trio scurried off to class.

Mr. Yamada reminded the students of their upcoming project - "You are high schoolers now; you should be able to manage your time and be responsible. No late projects will be accepted."

Ayame sat still through his class, unusual for a teacher he disliked so much. Hatori watched Shigure fold up a piece of paper and pass it to Aya. When the snake didn't open it, Shigure added another. As Mr. Yamada continued to lecture, a small hill of notes accumulated next to Ayame.

At the end of the day, Hatori suggested working on their assignment for Mr. Yamada's class, the words burning his throat. The trio had secured an exception to the rules to become a group of three, as per usual. Hatori hadn't asked how. Better not to know. "It's due next Tuesday. We don't have much time."

"True, true. Might I offer my humble dwelling?" Ayame replied.

"Oh, Aya, I'd let you take me home any day," Shigure crooned. They gave each other a thumbs up and Hatori took the opportunity to cough without being noticed.

Ayame's house was close enough to walk to, and the day was cool but clear. Ayame and Shigure chattered as they walked, the sound battering Hatori. His head was starting to ache long before they reached the house.

"So into older women, Gure! I'm sure those college girls will just line up around the block to date a high school boy."

"How could they resist me and my writerly charms? A man like me could easily help them put their fantasies into words."

"Gure, you dog!"

Once they reached the house, the trio immediately spread out their things and began studiously not working.

"I can't believe the principal let you go like that," said Shigure.

"Well, it was definitely one of my better performances," Ayame replied with his characteristic amount of humility: none at all, of course.

The table and books started to waver before Hatori's eyes and it took him several long moments to realize Shigure was calling his name.

"Yes?" His voice came out a congested rasp and he winced.

Ayame announced, "I shall have to regale you with my escapades at a later date, for it seems our friend is infirm!"

Hatori tried to wave off the either boy, who flitted around him like a silver butterfly, trying to check his temperature.

"Ooh. Haa-san, you're warm." Ayame bustled Shigure out of the room. Hatori could hear his voice rise to whine about having to take an extra share of the project. He leaned forward and rested his head on his folded arms.

Hatori startled awake when he heard footsteps. Ayame had come back with cold medicine and a thermometer. Too exhausted to refuse, Hatori allowed his friend to fuss over him.

"Thirty-eight point eight," he clucked, before adding, "You should rest." Ayame sounded somewhat subdued now. "There's a couch just in the other room."

Nerves. The rest of the trio had been to the house often enough to know where the couch was. Not only that, but where the bathroom was in the dark and where the brothers' parents stored the good snacks - and the cigarettes.

"Let me wash my face first." Hatori rose from his seat to splash cold water on himself in the bathroom. The coolness came as a relief through the fuzzy fever-heat. The parts of his face that weren't flushed were starkly pale.

He allowed himself to be shepherded to the couch by an anxious swirl of silver hair.

"Like you wish you could do for Yuki?" he might have asked, groggily.

"Like I wish I had done for for Yuki," Ayame might have said, or Hatori might have dreamed.

He bobbed in and out of sleep. The next thing he remembered was a whispered conversation between the other two members of the trio, barely on the near side of the doorway into the kitchen.

Ayame pulled Shigure aside. "I'm surprised he's held out this long... He's gonna transform. Would we be able to move him to the bathtub?"

"I'm a writer, not a weightlifter, Aaya." Shigure replied a moment later. "Why don't you go see if you can find something to fill with water?"

Aya nodded, flouncing out with less than his usual vigor.

Hatori closed his eyes again but began to cough with such force that he had to sit up to catch his breath. He wiped his nose and curled up on his side with his head pillowed on one arm.

It was then that Ayame came rushing in, silver hair whirling, clutching a teakettle.

"We are... putting our sick friend into a kettle?" asked Shigure.

"We're putting our sick friend into a kettle."

They locked eyes for a moment before erupting into desperate, gasping laughter. For a fleeting while, nothing in the world was funnier than a seahorse in a teakettle.

Hatori squeezed his eyes shut. A coughing fit from the couch sobered the other two members of the trio. Ayame returned to his fussing like an oddly-hued hen.

**Author's Note:**

> This is gonna be multi chapter because I now have free time and a PLOT (hot damn!)


End file.
